Post by majia on Sept 29, 2007 17:13:44 GMT -5

It’s like going around the world in 24 hours,” ruminates Butch Vig of his gruelling interview schedule – his speaks to European and American scribes in the morning, and by night he’s talking to Australian and Japanese journalists.

Perhaps it’s just testament to how popular Garbage remain, despite lying dormant for some two years since the release of their fourth album, Bleed Like Me. “It’s either that or how persistent our publicity team is,” he jokes.

While the band may have taken a break, Butch has maintained his gruelling production schedule – he’s worked on the major label debut by Against Me, recently wrapped up a record with Jimmy Eat World, and now finds himself ensconced with Irish trip the Subways as they work on their sophomore release.

Dividing his time between the production work – which has seemed endless since he broke through to a mainstream level after helming Nirvana’s Nevermind – and working on material for Garbage is always a challenge, and he confirms the challenge of releasing the greatest hits / remixes / video compendium Absolute Garbage was finding time to record some new material.

“We found some time in February, March, and we did most of it in my studio here at my home in Los Angeles,” Butch says. “But even so going through our archival footage [was time-consuming]. We put together a documentary on the DVD which is a companion to our videos, and I did a remix on the remix CD of “Bad Boyfriend”, which I did in-between Against Me and Jimmy Eat World. I’ve been very busy, but it’s good – I prefer to be immersed in music, and the main thing for me is just knowing when I have deadlines so I know when to finish something.”

Working on a remix of material that he himself had performed on was something greatly different for the super producer – he hadn’t done anything like it since Garbage’s self-titled debut some ten years ago. “From that point on we always sent it off to artists that we really respected,” he says of getting Garbage material re-imagined. “It’s something that I just did when I was goofing around when I updated my studio last year – I started tinkering with a remix for “Bad Boyfriend” and when we started putting the package together I thought it would be cool if the remix CD had a new track on it.

“We thought about farming the song out to somebody else,” he says, “but then I thought maybe I should just dive back in and finish it myself. I went and spent a couple of days tweaking it out, and it turned out really cool – Shirley [Manson] and Duke [Erikson] didn’t even know I was doing it and then I showed it to them and Shirley said ‘that’s fabulous, we have to put it on there’.”

Having taken an extended break since the release of their last album, Butch says that the plan is for the group to reconvene in early 2008, with Shirley working on a solo record from September, and Butch due to work on another production project immediately after the Subways. “I think probably the earliest we’re going to see Garbage get into the studio would be in the [northern] Spring of next year,” he says.

“We’ve talked very loosely about making more of an unplugged, acoustic kind of record,” he says of their next musical adventure, “which I keep referring to as ‘The Bummer Record’ – let’s record 12 really depressing, dark, sultry songs. It’s probably commercial suicide, but at this point I don’t think we really give a shit what the record company thinks; we’re mostly interesting in making a record that we’re happy with. But who knows? Once we start writing songs it depends on where the songs take you. We may end up making a techno record.”

Having a charismatic person such as Shirley Manson as a band leader does, in some part, explain why an act like Garbage can suddenly disappear yet, when they return, feel almost as if they have never gone away. So forceful is Manson’s personality that – like Kurt Cobain or Billy Corgan – they demand attention.

I think,” he says, “as an artist you have to have a vision as to where you’re going, and the more identity you can stamp on that the more you’re going to connect with the public. The more you sound generic or like other bands then the less the public is going to be interested in you, and if you can do something that really has your own sound – whatever that is – then that’s going to help you.

“To a certain extent our sound,” he speculates of Garbage’s music, “was an amalgamation of all sorts of things – hip-hop beats and rock guitars and electronica and weird sound effects. But at the front of it we had Shirley’s voice and she gave us a centre, and she had such a strong presence and strong character that it allowed us to do all sorts of things stylistically, like record a song like “Milk” or “Push It” or “Bleed Like Me” on the last record, or “Bad Boyfriend” – we didn’t choose one style of music to play and Shirley really helped that. Any band that has someone with that strong a presence like that gives you a lot of freedom.”

'Absolute Garbage' is out now, with the band hoping to tour Australia mid-2008.

Post by Domenick on Sept 29, 2007 17:56:29 GMT -5

This interview is new news to me! Thanks for posting it!!! I just can't believe that another album will soon be in the works. While I am most definitely looking forward to Shirley's solo record, I am yearning for new Garbage material.

Any direction the band wants to go is fine with me, but an album of "really depressing, dark, sultry songs" is what I am looking forward to .

Post by ALTERNAT1VE on Sept 30, 2007 4:33:03 GMT -5

Butch says they'll start working on the album in the spring of 2008 at earliest. From the previous experiences we had with the recordings of the other 4 albums I think they'll postpone the recording a few times then postpone the actual release a few more so mine expectation for this album is to come out not earlier than the end of 2009.I'll be buying it no matter when it comes out. I just hope it eventually does.

Post by beautifulfan on Sept 30, 2007 10:53:25 GMT -5

Shoutbox

Dance Away: reporting in, ...sahhh-lute!!! I love this board, and, I love the Garbage mystique. I'm viewing this board with black background and red text. It's so "Batman" and when I return to this board I feel like I'm returning to the batcave. Peace Love & UnderstNov 15, 2014 18:31:55 GMT -5

Dance Away: And, Elvis Costello's wife is Diana Krall. Oh god, do I love the music of Diana Krall! And, I know it's an aspiration of Shirley to do the kind of music that Krall is doing. Shirley's mother was a 'big band' music singer (sample "Glenn Miller" big band)Nov 15, 2014 19:09:58 GMT -5

thebestsalvia: Yes, Salvia like Mescaline but it is useful for meditation or tired less. But it's possible when you will be taken Salvia in right quantity.May 26, 2015 5:38:17 GMT -5

david0913: Oh my, this is too deep to believe; the amount of conceptualization and depth of the discourse can only make me feel...what do you guys talk about on here, anything [sigh]?Sept 9, 2016 1:51:54 GMT -5

orthodoxparadox36: I think that album actually saved, well, a few of the most important things in my life. I am eternally grateful for the way you all chose to dedicate your collective creative genius; something which makes it that much more special, not to mention, genuine!Jan 25, 2017 22:32:23 GMT -5